How did your shop classes effect your life?

I know how you feel in a way MissPrint, Like I said in my earlier post shop was the only thing I was good at in school, So when the 10th grade came around and people started going to the local vocational school I sighed up for the machine shop class. Well, I get called into the office [for the first time in my life I may add!]. The guidance consoler tells me in just so many words that by my grades I'm simply not smart enough to get involved in that line of work.
I have since ran into her a few times in town and made a point of telling her how well I'm doing owning and operating my machine shop. I think anyone can be anything they want to be if they have the drive to reach there goals. JC

 

I liked metal shop and took the four semesters that were offered and was a teaching assistant for another. Worked 33 years, mostly in a toolroom making chips for the Airline. You know I couldn't make it without a lathe and mill at home.

 

Besides being the biggest tool in the shop, My shop teacher was also the football and basketball coach.
He reminds me a lot of coach Hines from MadTV.
He had the same shorts, shirt, and personality, only gave a crap about sports.
I learned far more in my home garage with my Dad.

 

Shop classes ruined me.

I used to take enough of them to offset poor grades in other areas. Shop class & phy ed were gauranteed A+'s. It's not that I am a complete moron... it just made me lazy in other areas. I regret not applying myself. I have been lucky in my life in terms of finding work. I did buckle down on the school work to get a A&P licence which helps though.

 

I had an awesome auto shop teacher in High School back in Indiana named Jon Bill who was easy going and let us make mistakes and then helped us troubleshoot...had him for the last period of the day and often when it was possible a bunch of us would hang out and talk cars with him...he had a bunch of Studebakers all of which hauled butt...very cool guy

 

Our shop class was geared towards carpentry and woodworking.Sadly,no automotive.
The mechanical drawing/drafting was fun and I learned something usable.

You know how belligerant high school kids are? Yep...
Now my H.S. shop teacher is in the same car club and an equal.He gets a kick out of me calling him "Sir" and Mr M.
I feel vindicated that I have tenure over him,tho?

 

where i grew up we didnt have any kind shop class. well high school farmed it out to the vo-tech. lucky for me i grew up whit alot of people around that where mechanics, welders and construction workers. so i learned alot from them. my dad had some friends that fixed up old hot rods and muscle cars, as did my father. so my shop class was at home and around town with friends. i have been lucky in getting my foot in the door as a mechanic at a young age (15). i had to drop out of high school and go to work full time. so i could survive. some times life really kicks you when your down. but anyway what i have learned from my family and friends when i was a kid has done so much for me in my life. i am greatful for them and what they have done for me.

 

we really didn't have a shop class we could take a auto body class or a mechanics class at a junior collage. the teacher wasn't very helpful. the kids that won awards in the class were up his a@@. I'm the only one now that has a clue from that class of what it takes to build a car. i can thank my dad for that and a friend that has been in collision repair for 30 years. hes helped me get jobs and showed me how to straiten frames and weld on new panels on cars.....Jones

 

We had Ag class don't remmber much agriculture it was basicly shop class,we had access to stick welders and several tools most didn't have at home.It was kind of a goof off class but we still learned alot of practicial stuff that was more use to the kids that went on to work instead of college,which was most us in early 70's.

 

That used to aggravate me too. A neighbor girl who wasn't allowed to take shop hung out at my place because I was always working on cars or making something. I had a good drillpress, and some pretty fair tools including a welder at home. My dad was a millwright and house mover along with being an avid hot rodder. My uncle two blocks away was a hot rodder and was diesel mechanic/machinist for Frisco Railroad, so we had acces to some good tools not only at home, but at his place and what we didn't have there, he would sneak into work on a weekend.

That little gal, we both were in the 8th grade, could weld like nobodies business, write her name in cursive with an old Forney stick welder on a piece of 3/16" and never burn through it.

I would have rather have had her running the Bridgeport behind me in class than some of the other yahoos I had in there. I got hit in the back by shrapnel from someones project who didn't understand "toolspeed vs axis" She went on to work for Boeing, haven't heard from her in years, but she and her husband were very successful. He was a fellow metalshop student in high school in the 9th grade. I moved on to autobody for my last two years, and he became a machinist. She had to go back to school too, but she did it. Public school was crap then,and I swear its getting worse.

You go getum'!

 

I was very lucky when I went to high school (I'm 24 Now) we had one of the best welding programs in the state with the only full time welding teacher in the state took it all 4 years learned a lot. He would treat it like a job we had time cards and we eared our grade like a paycheck we where very self sufficient we built trailers and other projects and the profit went back in to the program we also had a great drafting program and a good machine shop wood shop. auto shop sucked (teacher was a tool ) and wasn't in to AG worked on a ranch after school and summers didn't want to do it at school. Sadly my senior year was my drafting teachers last year and heared the new teacher didn't know much and 2 years later the welding teacher retired and that program got merged shortly after with machine shop. Its sad that schools nowadays are all about getting ready for college which is good don't get me wrong but you need some shop classes to balance it out and for the kids that don't want to go be a doctor, lawyer, communications major, after school, last I checked my old school remodeled and made the welding shop in to 3 classrooms Guess I'll have to teach my kids all that shit at home. Oh well

 

In 8th grade I got a nice scar in my right palm from holding a wood block in my hand and drilling a hole too deep. A permanent reminder about shop safety and good for a chuckle at class reunions along with some of the other bone-head moves I made as a teen. Wish I could have taken welding and auto shop rather than some of those college prep classes, but it worked out better in the long run.

 

Whats funny is I had to go back to school to take the college classes when I went into management that they told me I should have been taking in school. I some how tested straight into College Algebra, after 20 years out of school and I didn't even really remember all of the rules on fractions. Funny thing happened. The teacher had been a Marine Gunner, back before they had computers, and could do gun battery trajectory calculations in his head and on a small lined pad. When he realized that the stuff on the board was greek to me, he helped me out to connect back to the "shop math" I learned in IA. I thought in tool and bit sizes, speeds, expansions. I got an A in the class because of him, and I had never had algebra in high school. I can still factor down like I always have since I was a kid and people accuse me of being a savant, because I can't really show my work conventionally. I'm not, I just had a damn good shop teacher.

I also got an A in College English I and II and Psychology. Probably because I have always read and talked too much, and had some very disciplined influences in my life. I was never talked to like a child, and I asked alot of questions. I'm at a 4.0 right now,but I can't go back and finish yet, maybe someday when I get better at adaptive technology. In the mean time I have two kids to finish up theirs, and hopefully my wife will go on for her PhD. It is never too late to better yourself.

 

it is a sad fact that many schools around here dont even offer any type of shop classes. here in so cal. i graduated 2007. and school poplation was well over 2,500 students close to 3,000 i am sure (that is one campus) . and everything i learned was in my own garage. i would have loved to take shop classes ..

 

My shop class's were my favorite. I fabricated a utility trailer for my father so I did get to weld a bit, we sand casted aluminum ashtrays but when the teacher was not around we did knuckles and iron crosses. Great fun!
Ben Davis 68

 

I got my ass paddeled good for making a set of "knuckles" He let me keep them, but I never tried that again.

 

The right instructor is always key, especially with Calculus. I took Calc I in college in 1975, they passed me just to get rid of me. Fast forward to 2006, I have to take Calc II to graduate for my BS degree in Manufacturing Engineering. In Calc I, we used slide rules, made for a dandy back scratcher. So here I am armed with my TI86 graphing calculator, and I scarcely knew how to turn it on, let alone use it. I downloaded the TI manual online, practiced a helluva lot, took good notes and did my homework. The instructor went over Calc I somewhat and really cut out all the crap and took the mystery out of Calculus. I wound up with a B+ in the course.

Bob

 

It's funny reading this post. Just today I planned the classes I want to take in my 10th, 11th, and 12th grade. They are the ones I want, not scheduled just the classes I want. Some of them were CAD, Auto Tech, O-tech (an outside school for automotive classes), and engineering tech. Should be some fun classes.

 

National statistics show that 78% of high school students do not go to college.Just by this alone
where would you think 78% of effort should be put.
If you could have gone to a school that all classes
were centered around vocational training, like you would
have math, science,english,etc tailored and taught on
a "need to know" bases and when it applied to what you were doing when you were doing it. How much easier would it have been to learn and retain? How many times did you ask "why do I need to learn this" and you were told "well you just need to know how to do it". I know this is simple but I believe there are only two things in life that you learn "need to know and nice to know". Knowing your time tables is good, but is it necessary to beat up on a kid trying to make him memorize all this when he can carry a calculator in his shirt pocket and spend his time and effort learning to weld,cut aboard,or some other skill that he really needs to know to make a living. Think about this.
I do know the the world would not turn without folks that work with their hands. I will get down off the box
now. Please let me know what you think.
Sorry for the long post,
Cal

 

I would be NOTHING today without the tech classes I took in high school.

 

I tool every wood shop class there was, and a metal working class.
I was a self employed home builder for 20 years, and now a self employed furniture maker for the last 11 years. And I have played with cars since I was 8 years old ( 52+ years).

 

I hated shop class! While they were teaching us how to work on lawn mower engines we were rebuilding Small Blocks at home and driving junk cars on the farm roads

But I did like the movies
The ABC's of hand tools starring Primitive Pete


Here is a link to a pdf of the ABC's of Hand Tools book that we used in school
http://bobsokol.castpost.com/abcs.pdf

Gary

 

In 9th grade, I took a typing class because I didn't know what else to take as an elective. Little did I know that 40 years later with the advent of PC's, that would be one of the most important classes I've taken - I can type with both hands on the keyboard. Not a shop class but computer related and important today!

 

My auto teacher (and family friend ever since)crewed on a Can-Am car,owned by Ric Moore(father of the late Greg Moore),we would spend a lot of weekends at Westwood race track,in addition to excellent class times. Metal teachers had both been employed building aircraft in WWII, learned foundry work, sheet metal skills,as well as lathe and machining. The most important lesson from these classes,was learning to respect the machinery,for what it could achieve,and how to do things safely! All three of my instructors were the kind of people,who just commanded respect,which sure helped form a great attitude for the workplace,and also served me well in dealing with the public,in my years as a crew member on the many race teams I was involved with. Drafting classes also were a valuable skill, amazing how the ability to read plans accurately,serves you well in so many situations.When I retuned to technical school,20 years after H.S.,I had the highest marks in my class,on the section for blueprint reading,for an Aircraft assembly course.Now I'm proud to see my 17yr old nephew(youngrodder1929),excelling in his steel fabricating and welding classes in High School, (1rst yr apprentice course) as well as building his hot rod at home and working part time. Thankfully,we still have shop classes here,in our school system.

 

I was already into cars , Hot Rods and stuff like that . In High School wood shop , I got to redo all the wood for the 1940 Ford Station Wagon I had . Cut new panels , re-glued all the doors and refinished them + got extra credit . This is my old HS Woodie about 6-7 years ago . All the panels I cut and doors I re-glued in HS shop class are still holding . Now owned by a friend , it's nice to see something you did 45 years ago is still around........Z.D.

 

WHOA ! that brings memories rushing back It started with metal shop arc and gas welding and sand casting aluminum playboy bunnies and stuff.Then small engines classes we built a go cart and a hovercraft ,it almost worked. Then auto shop ..
you only got in through teacher approval, Mr D Ruled that place with a iron fist,he was a biker not a weekend one either but
we learned alot .We got to see new cars from the dealers field trips to engine builders and a drag race .It was the 80's but some oh the cars in the class were a 68 firebird a 70's cuda convert a 65 chevelle a70 mach 1a 67 gto a 69 charger to name a few one guy had a Tbucket . We had a lift it was cool...The teacher drowned in 1984 I still miss him

 

High School (class of 74) auto shop changed my life, can't really say for the better! We had a young teacher who's passion was the big indoor car show. Sponsered a club where we built cars and entered them in the Starbird show when it came to town. We would stay after school and learn custom paint and body, we would paint them right in the shop building, no booth, I'm sure we could get away with that now! The first car I built won 1st place in class, I was hooked after that. A year later I dropped out of collage (much to my parents displeasure!) to be able to do custom paint full time, been in the custom car field ever since. The teacher and I became good friends, we still see each other on occasion 35 years later.

 

I went to a vocational-technical high school and took "Machine Tool Technology" for 3 class periods a day for 3 years. It was one of the most life changing things I ever did. My ex marine shop teacher got me my first job in a shop and then later the first "real" job. I spent 20 years there... even met my first wife at that place... and left as a Journeyman Tool & Diemaker.

While I'm no longer making chips, I still use the skills I learned... about everything.. including life.. every single day.

Today, the vo-tech schools have become dumping grounds for what the elitist educators have determined are the "dumb" kids.

 

same as it ever was. we were the trouble makers, hoods, geeks, outcast. but at least 50% of the guys i went to vo with now own and are doing great in their own businesses, some of the nerdy guys with business sense went right after high school and opened body shops and are still killin it. I've been in bizz for 10 years building rods, i owe a lot to the "dumb kid" teacher. thanks Bartlett

 

I went to a catholic boy school in the 70s, they hired a fitter and turner to give us some trade skills, He was the sort of guy who could build or fix anything. His idea of training was we could build anything we liked. Lots of mini bike projects very few completed I got mine to go eventually. He also had a traction engine which he brought in for some work, I got to drive it round the school.
I took an apprenticeship as an maintenance electrician with an Aussie car part manufacturer Repco, they took training seriously I did 6 months full time in a machine shop learning how to use mills, lathes, shapers, surface grinders, and hand tools the right way (I wish I could remember it all). Most of my mates in the building game are amazed that drill bits can be resharpened on a grinder by eye.
Now Repco makes nothing and only are a shop front for OS manufactured parts.
I would pay to have my son get that sort of training.
Brendan